Earl Grey Gin Cocktail

I like tea and I like gin. I particularly like earl grey and gin based cocktails so I thought it was about time that I got creative with my cocktail shaker and tried these two tastes together. Not for my own benefit of course, all in the name of experimenting. Whenever I make a cocktail I am always amazed at how the slight slip of a hand can affect the end taste of the drink; too sweet, too acidic, too much alcohol. Then again, you can add a bit more of this and a bit less of that depending on your tastes.

You will need (per drink):

1 heaped tsp earl grey loose leaf tea

125ml water

20g sugar

50ml gin

Juice 1 lemon

Make a strong earl grey by adding the loose leaf tea to 75ml of boiling water and leaving it to stand for 5 minutes. Remove the tea leaves when done.

Simmer together the remaining 50ml water and the sugar in a small pan until the sugar is fully dissolved and you have a syrup. Leave the syrup to cool slightly then add the stir in the tea.

Into a glass (a pretty one helps) pour the tea syrup (around 50ml), gin and the lemon juice.

Sit back, relax and sip.

I topped mine with some little dried cornflowers. Just because.

This is truly a tipple to enjoy on a warm afternoon. A glass of this, sat outside in some dappled shade and everything is just marvellous. The flavours are as you would expect; the delicate bergamot from the earl grey giving everything a lovely flavour. The balance of sweetness to acidic lemon to gin, to my taste, is spot on. Also, as it doesn’t need any really special ingredients you could knock up a batch at a moment’s notice. Topping the cocktail with cornflowers doesn’t add anything other than making it look pretty; and why not.

Gee, I have a fresh pot of Earl Grey tea on the counter top, and gin the cupboard. A few minutes of work and I could be in business. 😉 This is a great looking cocktail — love the combo of flavors. Thanks for this.